PRESS RELEASE
KING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
JULY 30, 2004
Another Day, More Broken Promises
King Environmental Groups (KEG) announced their shock that a Certificate
of
Approval for the York Durham Sewer System (YDSS) extension to King City
has
been granted today by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, with the full
sup****t and knowledge of local MPP Greg Sorbara, Minister of Finance.
King City, a small village of 5,000 people 40 kilometres northwest of
downtown
Toronto sits squarely 100% on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and local residents
groups have been fighting the YDSS for over 10 years; stating their
preference
for a local communal treatment system should one prove necessary.
KEG Chairman Jeff Laidlaw, states, "Approving the extension of the YDSS to
King
City is in complete contradiction of Section 43 of the Oak Ridges Moraine
Conservation Act, out of sync with the intent of the Greenbelt Protection
Act,
completely contrary to Minister Dombrowsky's stated goals for the Source
Water
Protection Act, and will most likely lead to rampant development and urban
sprawl well beyond anyone's control."
Said King City Councillor Jane Underhill, "It's shocking that the McGuinty
government claimed they were going to stop the building on the Oak Ridges
Moraine and broke that promise almost immediately after taking office, and
now,
with the tools in place that would allow them to stop the building on the
Moraine from spreading further they (the Ontario government) are taking no
action to stop it."
Section 43 of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act speaks to the issue
of
maintaining quantity and quality of water, the Greenbelt Protection Act
speaks
to the issue of controlling urban sprawl, and the Source Water Protection
Act
speaks to the issue of watershed and aquifer maintenance.
Estimates show that the extension of the YDSS to King City will
effectively
increase the water draw of 2 million litres per day from the local aquifer
up
to as much as 20 million litres per day (design capacity of the system)
potentially draining the aquifer, and will remove all that water from the
watershed. History of the YDSS shows that wherever it goes one sees
sprawl.
The case that has traditionally been used to sup****t the YDSS by York
Region is
an alleged health concern. Peer review prepared in 2001 would suggest that
the
health concern is vastly overstated.
KEG executive member, Nancy Hopkinson, President of Nobleton Alert
Residents'
Association, says, "When will this government live up to their promises ?
Minister of the Environment Leona Dombrowsky, said on July 20 that she did
not
approve of moving water from one watershed to another"
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Media Contacts: Jane Underhill (905) 833 5678 , Nancy Hopkinson (905) 859
0761,
Jeff Laidlaw (905) 833 2249
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